SPOILERS: BLACK PANTHER Writer And Producer Reveal 10 Big New Secrets About The Marvel Movie
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler and producer Nate Moore reveal loads of new secrets about the movie here, including an alternate Bucky scene, the inspiration for key scenes, and much more besides.
Black Panther has been in theaters for a couple of weeks now and while you might think that you know all there is to know about the Marvel movie, Ryan Coogler and Nate Moore have revealed a lot of very exciting new secrets about it during a recent podcast appearance. From deleted scenes to alternate takes and the inspiration for key moments and character decisions, this makes for a fascinating read!
We've broken down their conversation into the ten biggest reveals and all you need to do to check the list out in its entirety is click the button below. Needless to say, spoilers do follow from this point on so read at your own risk if you've yet to watch the Marvel Comics adaptation. Once you're done checking these big Black Panther reveals out, let us know your thoughts on them in the comments section.
Bucky Nearly Got His Arm Back
Bucky shows up in Black Panther's after-credits scene and Moore says it was indeed designed to set up the events of Avengers: Infinity War. "We also wanted to hint at, 'OK he's fixed?' What does that mean going forward? We do have this little film called Avengers: Infinity War coming up. We wanted to have Bucky back and up and around, because he will have a role to play in that film."
When Bucky appears, he only has the one arm but that wasn't always going to be the case. "We did discuss [giving him a new arm]," Moore confirmed. "There was a version when it was in, there was a version where it was out. The truth was, he felt more human when he wasn't whole in Winter Soldier. He could just be Bucky and that's why I think it was important for him as a character to go, 'not Sergeant Barnes, my name's Bucky. I am a person, I am no longer a soldier.'"
Where Killmonger's Plan Came From
The Museum of Great Britain isn't actually a real place but it was created for Black Panther because the actual British Museum wouldn't give Marvel the green light to shoot there. However, it was Coogler's visit there that inspired his ideas for Killmonger's plan in the movie.
"I got the idea for that scene here, I was here in the UK for press for Creed," the director reveals. "The British Museum is amazing, just being in there and thinking about the character of Killmonger, thinking about Wakanda […] its relationship with colonisation. Being in that museum and seeing these incredible things from all over the world, and just how complicated that is."
Ciro Guerre's Embrace of the Serpent also served as inspiration because it's where Coogler got the idea for the villain's scarification and him having "the worst tendencies" of both Africa and America.
A Cut Scene Featuring Okoye And W'Kabi
It's been reported that the assembly cut of Black Panther was around four hours long and Moore mentions that one of those deleted scenes was particularly powerful and revolved around Okoye And W'Kabi. Apparently, it would have seen the couple debating whether or not to follow Erik Killmonger and Moore calls it, "one of the most well-acted scenes I've ever been a part of."
Don't fret, though, because the producer went on to confirm that it will be included on the Blu-ray.
The Movie's Working Title
As has become commonplace for blockbuster movies these days, Black Panther had a secret working title to disguise the fact a big Marvel movie was shooting in locations like Argentina and Atlanta. Coogler reveals that the moniker it went under during shooting was, appropriately, "Motherland."
"I'm fresh off two years of everything being secret," the filmmaker says. "The movie title we couldn't even use. People say Black Panther, I've still got to think about it. It was Motherland for so long."
The Prologue's Original Narrator
Test screenings for Black Panther revealed that moviegoers were confused about the inner workings of Wakanda, hence why that animated prologue sequence was added. Moore confirms that it's N'Jobu telling his son the story (as opposed to T'Chaka and T'Challa) but it was once going to be a different character. That was considered, as was Shuri which would have been interesting!
"We landed on N'Jobu telling the story to his son, which wasn't our first choice, but ultimately felt really satisfying. Hopefully on repeat viewings you go, 'oh that's who I was listening to, OK that's cool'. They were all viable and interesting," Moore says in regards to the other versions, "but emotionally I think this is the best version." Do you think Marvel made the right decision?
The Inspiration For Ulysses Klaue's Death
Erik Killmonger managed to essentially buy his way into Wakanda by killing Ulysses Klaue and Coogler came up with that idea by thinking about what would have happened if someone else had been responsible for bringing in Bin Laden rather than President Barrack Obama.
"We wrote this when Obama was in office, so there was kind of a Bin Laden parallel there," he explained. "What if somebody else brought Bin Laden in instead of Obama? For T'Challa, it's all-important that he gets this guy, it's very important to him, his country. And then somebody else does it and throws it in his face." It also made for one of Black Panther's most shocking moments!
T'Challa's "Building Bridges" Line Has A Real-Life Inspiration
"In times of crisis, the wise build bridges while the foolish build barriers," T'Challa says in Black Panther's mid-credits scene when he addresses the United Nations and promises to share Wakanda's resources with the rest of the world. That may sound like a dig at Donald Trump, Coogler confirms that it was based on an African proverb which his wife found while he was writing the movie.
"We were looking for African proverbs to go with this speech and we found that one. That saying is so ancient that many African tribes claim it. It's a very common proverb on the continent."
The Mid-Credits Scene Was The Movie's Original Ending
Some fans have been critical of Black Panther's mid-credits scene but if it felt like a rather random moment to put there, that could be because it was originally intended to be the movie's ending!
"I like movies that end where they start. I feel like it's a complete meal, there's a symmetry there," Coogler said, referring to T'Challa and Shuri's arrival in Oakland. "We played with a lot of different ways to end it. It came back to the most moving version of it. Who is more moved emotionally — that kid, or the people sitting in that UN? Who is that a bigger deal to?" Makes perfect sense, eh?
The Reason Oakland Was Used
Outside of Wakanda and South Korea, Oakland is one of Black Panther's key locations. It's also Coogler's home city and a significant place for both Erik Killmonger and his father, T'Chaka's brother.
"In the Nineties, where would be a place where [Erik's] father, a Wakandan spy could go to be exposed to these points of view? Not points of view that are radical, but him being a Wakandan and being exposed to these things could lead to the conclusion and the choices that he makes. Oakland was that," the director revealed before naming Tupac Shakur as a source of inspiration.
"We wanted to bring the energy of Tupac to a Marvel movie," he added. "That's where 'Pac spent a lot of his time, the 'Pac that we know came from his time in the Bay Area. Black people got to California and the Bay Area from repeated migration, fleeing awful things. And that's where you saw these organizations [like the Black Panther Party] come from. They ran out of places to run."
Why Black Panther Showed Up In Captain America: Civil War
"In 2010 we started developing a standalone [Black Panther] movie with a very talented writer, and we soon found ourselves falling into the pitfalls of an origin story movie and that familiar structure," Moore says of why Black Panther avoids that predictable storytelling structure.
"We saw an opportunity to introduce a character in a different way, that both served that movie really well, would be a great launching pad for the character, and allow us to do a film that could skip all of the origin story pitfalls and just tell a cool story." Mission accomplished!
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